


Link, Link, Link

by Anonymous



Series: mythical-soul's fics [2]
Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, M/M, The Last of Us AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-30
Updated: 2015-03-30
Packaged: 2018-03-20 04:02:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3635949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The apocalypse started when they less expected it.</p><p>Rhett was in North Carolina and Link was in California.</p><p>More than 2.237 miles separating them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Link, Link, Link

**Author's Note:**

> I have this kind of tradition of writting The Last of Us/Zombie Apocalypse AU on my different fandoms so here I am, my children. I wasn't sure how to tag this since there's nothing really explicit but hey, **THERE'S DEATH MENTIONED IN THIS FIC** so please keep an eye on that if that makes you uncomfortable. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy it! ♥

The apocalypse started when they less expected it.

Rhett was in North Carolina and Link was in California.

More than 2.237 miles separating them.

He woke up one night hearing screaming outside, guns shooting off into the distance and people running. Rhett was very confused and he moved over the blind off the window- then he saw everything. At the end of the road, in what he thought was the center of the town, smoke was rising through the skies and he could see very well that there was fire, the dark smoke looking red and yellow and orange and disappearing into the night sky.

In the street, he saw people running and cars flying away at unbelievable speeds.

That’s when he saw them.

The infected.

They weren’t slow and they weren’t stupid: they were still part human. They ran behind humans, jumping when they had them close and just biting them until they were dead. They let out these awful screams and yells and the smell- the rotten flesh wasn’t good.

He gathered everything he could from his room. His phone, his bags and some jackets, along with the car keys. He ran downstairs and gathered bottles of water, canned food, he just followed his instincts. He was staying that his parents’ house but they weren’t there; they left not a few days ago to enjoy some cruise to the Caribbean and god, where they would be at this point. Did they know what was happening?

He loved his parents but there was just one person that came in mind.

Link, _Link_ , _Li_ **nk.**

He started calling him while he was starting the car, seeing the streets as empty as they could be. Link wasn’t answering his phone and he was starting to get nervous- what if something happened to him? The car started and he just drove away, he drove away from the city while listening to the radio.

An announcement from the military started broadcasting, talking about the infected and that they would start to take their people out in the streets, planting safe zones for the _survivors_ , gathering food for the _survivors_ , keeping safe the _survivors_.

 _Survivors_.

If this was the end of the world, Rhett wasn’t sure if he wanted to be part of it.

When they started naming cities where the infected started appearing, Rhett, with his phone pressed at his hear, started to feel his own heart jumping into his throat. Baltimore, Maryland; Austin, Texas; New York City, New York; Phoenix, Arizona; Jacksonville, Florida; Los Angeles, California; Miami…

Rhett bit his lip and held a sob coming from his chest.

Link wasn’t answering his phone and every city in the states was falling.

He was about to give up when his phone rang.

Link, Link, Link.

“Rhett,” was the first thing he heard when he answered the call: Link’s voice filled with worry but at the same time, relief. “Rhett, are you okay?”

Rhett wanted to laugh and cry and he felt helpless because his best friend, the love of his life was at the other side of the country, dealing by himself all of this even when Rhett promised he would be beside him the doomsday. Yet, the Universe had other plans.

“I’m fine, what about you? Are you okay? Where are you?” He spat out, driving through the deserted streets out of the small town, seeing some cars fly beside him to the other side.

“Soldiers cleaned the streets a few hours ago and they’re taking a big part of us to the quarantine zone,” his breathing was heavy and they were in silence for a moment. “Rhett-”

“Don’t, Link,” Rhett mumbled. He knew that Link was going to start saying goodbye because, of course, that’s what Link would do. “Don’t you _fucking_ dare.” Link laughed and even when the world was falling down and the system could contain whatever this was, Link laughed and Rhett couldn’t help but laugh back.

Link mumbled something before talking clearly: “Rhett, I-”

The line went out and everything he could hear was a series of beeps.

Rhett pressed his phone to his chest, breathing deeply, and trying to hold his tears back.

The radio was quiet and the only sound was his car’s motor.

\----

Rhett drove until his car started sputtering and he didn’t have more gas.

It had been hours since he left the small town behind, cars stopped passing by and daylight was breaking through. He tried to think clearly for a moment- he had read books about the apocalypse, he watched more than one series about the preppers but yet, he couldn’t remember anything.

He only could think about Link and that was it.

Rhett put on his jackets and took his bags before starting to walk what it would be the closest city.

That was until a military truck pulled beside him and he was almost shot. He threw his hands in the air and noticed the trucks filled with people on the inside, looking at him with fear, questioning themselves who he was, if he was infected.

It was incredibly how in a matter of hours, people’s mindset could change.

They interrogated him, guns pointing at his head, and they let him get in one of the trucks with the promise that if he did something stupid, he would end up with a bullet in between his eyes. Rhett only nodded and sat down between a young girl with blonde hair and an old, bald man.

The truck started to move and its motor was everything you could hear. No one dared to say anything.

That was how he got to the quarantine zone in Charlotte, North Carolina.

That had happened years ago but he could remember it as if it was yesterday.

The city was starting to become emptier with the time, people had been dying of other sickness and the government had been saying for years that they had been working for the human good, everyone knew that they resources were starting to become limited.

Two years later, Rhett killed a man- took his gun and shoot him straight in the head. His knees buckled under him and he threw up. He didn’t sleep that night.

Three years later, he stopped having nightmares about Link dying over and over again. He barely slept and when he could, he didn’t have dreams anymore (and the last time he did, it was only the memory of Link’s call replaying on his head over and over again. Link’s incomplete _“I-”_ that made Rhett’s heart beat out of his chest every time.)

Four years later, he started a black market of rations, with the help of some people that gained his trust. He gained power and respect from people that when they saw him around, you could noticed that they were _afraid_ of him. They knew he had food so they treated him good, they knew he had guns so they didn’t say anything bad about him, they being afraid made Rhett feel ten times better.

Five years later, those people betrayed him, they took his whole empire and he flew from the city as quickly as he could. The people that were afraid turned around on him and now he was a hated rat running in the allies, hearing the vox populi screaming his name until they had sore throats.

He left Charlotte and never turned back.

When he was far enough from the city and he was hid in some forest, he cried as if he was a newborn child, feeling vulnerable and alone. Six years later, Rhett started a new life somewhere else and everything came back at him: the nightmares, the fear, the insecurity, the memories-

For the first time in years, he remembered Link.

\----

He must be dreaming.

It’s been months since he had taken a small apartment as his own in some town with no name.

He had met some fellas that were living in some buildings around, trying to keep themselves safe as he did with himself. It wasn’t like they had start to become friends but it was nice to have some people to talk to. Megan, Eric, Nicholas, Sebastian, Barbara, Jack and Jacqueline were great.

Olivia was a young girl that Rhett looked with pity more than once because she had been born into this inferno. She was only seven but she was tough as nails. His father and he, along with a few others, were sitting close to the fire on cold night when she spoke up.

“Rhett,” she started, looking straight at him. “Have you ever loved someone?”

Rhett was quiet for a moment and when Eric, the little girl’s father, was about to shush her, he answered with a simple yes, saying that he had someone very special once and he wasn’t sure if that person was still alive. She smiled and patted his thigh, muttering that it was okay.

He only chuckled.

After that, Eric pulled him away and he started talking about losing someone special too. Rhett knew where he was going with all of that. Nights later, after Jacqueline and Olivia when to sleep, Rhett open up with everyone. He talked about Link and what they had done together with their lives.

He talked about what they did, their years in college, the stupid things they had done all over the years; he talked about them leaving everything behind in their small southern town and moving into the hot and sunny California to try to accomplish their dreams.

Rhett didn’t give much detail about how they fell in love, just continued saying that Link meant a lot to him. They nodded and laughed at the funny bits of their story and somehow, he felt better.

That night he slept though the whole night- no nightmares, no dreams, no restlessness.

A few days later, Megan and Rhett were out looking around of more ammo and maybe guns and, well, who knows, if they were lucky enough, find more medicine and food. They were returning from their walk, the sun almost coming out from behind some buildings as it always did, when they heard commotion coming over from their hide out.

“What’s happening?” She asked, running to Olivia, who was sitting outside the room.

“A man came in,” she whispered, as if she was telling a secret.

Megan said something but Rhett just kept walking inside, asking some people what was happening.

He found Eric and Jack talking outside a room, discussing with red faces about what they were going to do with this man. Jack wanted to help the guy but Eric didn’t want to, _what if he’s infected and we don’t know? What if the scanner that we have isn’t functional anymore? I’m not going to risk my wife’s and my daughter’s life because of him!_

Rhett, in silence, curiously looked over Jack’s shoulder and took a look at the man lying on the mattress in the floor. He looked at the two men again but, suddenly, something hit him: he knew him, he knew him, he knew this man, and he knew that dirty face, he knew that dark hair, he knew him.

Link, Link, Link.

Rhett felt his knee’s become weak and he started shaking. Eric was about to stop him from going into the room when he noticed his colleague’s expression. “What’s wrong?”

“I know him,” and he dropped next to Link, parting his hair to the right side. “Oh god, I know him, I know him,” and he turned around, looking at Eric, almost on his knees being him. “Please, help him, please.”

Without thinking it twice, Eric and Jack helped Link. They scanned him (and thank god, the scan came out clean), they sutured some of his open wounds and cleaned others while Rhett cleaned his best friend’s face, taking the dirt and the sweat off from his forehead.

Rhett didn’t move away from Link’s side the whole night or the next day or the day after that one.

He just waited for him to wake up.

Yet, it was Link who woke him up.

“Rhett” and even when he was coming out from his sleepiness, he knew that voice, a voice filled with worry but at the same time relief. Rhett opened his eyes and found Link’s blue eyes looking at him, his best friend was kneeling in front of him, smile beautifully marked on his face, along with a few scars and some bruises. “Rhett, are you okay?”

And it was as the same night, the same words, the same feelings.

Just, this time, they weren’t miles away.

This time both of them were in the same place at the same time.

They were facing each other and Rhett couldn’t help but cry. Link was smiling and his hands were on Rhett’s shoulders and soon moved to clean the man’s cheeks. “Hi,” Link mumbled and continued to look at Rhett as if he was the most gorgeous thing in the whole world.

Well, after eight years in this hell, he was probably the most gorgeous thing he had seen.

“I love you,” Link continued, kissing Rhett’s face all over. “I love you and I couldn’t tell you how much you mean to me. I missed you terribly.” Rhett’s hands pulled Link close, his lips pressing against Link’s as if he was his life, his oxygen, his everything. “I love you.”

If Rhett was bitten today by an infected, he would die happy.

Link was safe and sound and he couldn’t be happier.

“I love you, too,” he mumbled, between kisses and salty tears. He pulled Link closer, touching every bit of this man, of this amazing man in front of him. “God, Link, I can’t believe it’s you. I must be dreaming.”

He must be dreaming.

Well, he was dreaming.

He woke up, shivering and cold. It was probably the fever.

Rhett looked around. He was lying on a mattress on the floor, his jacket on top of him.

He had been bitten not a few days ago and the infection had started to kick in. Months after him escaping the city, he found an empty town but he didn’t realize about the spores. Now, he was lying on a mattress, shivering, coughing and knowing that he was going to become one of those things that everyone wanted to kill: an infected.

He closed his eyes and let his body and mind go, just remembering Link’s voice mumbling “I love you” over and over again, remembering him: how he was in school, in high school, in college, at work, at home, in his memories; them falling in love, his kisses, his smile, how he laughed, how he was Rhett’s whole life.

He remembered how, when he would get sick, Link would caress his hair and mutter sweet nothings.

For some reason, he felt Link’s hand caressing his hair as if he was right there in that moment with him.

Then, he just slipped away and he wasn’t Rhett anymore.

 

**Author's Note:**

> talk to me in tumblr [@mythical-soul!](http://mythical-soul.tumblr.com/)


End file.
